UPAA-MB, Inc. members, families, and supporters gathered to celebrate the completion of the 2013 Health Isko Lifestyle Challenge Program. The Challenge was launched in April 20, 2013 and was concluded on August 24, 2013 in conjunction with the annual Palarolympics event held at Birds Hill Park.

Challengers and Handlers during the Launch (CW from Top Left: Gabby, Mei, Joanna, Janine)

“Healthy Isko” is a four-month long competition wherein challengers identify a health goal and meet that goal at the end of the challenge period, with the help and supervision of the coaches:

Diet Coach Kristine Acab-David, Registered Dietitian

Fitness Coach Norman Garcia

Community Kitchen

The challengers have been directed about proper goal settings, which they will apply each week in setting their fitness objectives and action plans. During the challenge period, the challengers learned about general health, healthy weight loss, proper exercise levels, and healthy eating. They participated in different activities such as healthy eating workshops, community kitchen, a grocery tour, and group workout activities.

Group workout

Janine Rose Quijano emerged as the Most Valuable Challenger. The other successful Challengers are Joanna Ocampo-Flores, Mei Villafania, and Gabby Maramag.

The Challengers during the Awarding Ceremony (L-R: Mei, Joanna, Janine)

Community Involvement

To further encourage the participation of the community, Healthy Isko enlisted the help of friends, family, and co-workers of the challengers by creating an Information Hub for the program. The Information Hub is a Facebook Page where challengers, coaches, and supporters exchange ideas and share tips on health and fitness. Access to the Hub is available to anyone with a Facebook account who pledged a monetary amount (minimum $5) to any challenger. Half of the pledges raised went to the Most Valuable Challenger while the other half of the funds raised will go to UPAA-MB, Inc. Participation in the discussion in the Hub, pledges and other assistance given by members were awarded support points. Jullie Quijano was awarded as the Most Supportive Member for garnering the most support points.

Healthy Isko Dinner with the Challengers, Supporters, Advisors, Coaches, and Family Members

Challengers’ Experience

At the end of the challenge, the challengers were asked to share what their experiences and realizations. Here are some of the excerpts.

Janine – “I’m realizing that it’s not so hard to live a healthier lifestyle. I have the tools to keep myself going, and keep myself get better even after the challenge. I’ve actually enjoyed doing healthier activities and now I can say that I am looking forward with keeping myself healthy and forming healthy. I’ve also become more independent because of this challenge. Ultimately, it’s up to me to make myself better and I was able to do it.”

Gabby – “Not everything is gonna be easy. There are always challenges especially when you’re young it’s hard because sometimes your friends would eat junk foods and that I would end up eating a lot. It’s okay to eat the foods that you like but you need to have control. Control how much you eat. Meaning measure how much you eat. Also avoiding some bad habits while you’re eating helps maintain that sense of having control on how much you’ve eaten.”

Joanna – “There is no magic pill. Proper diet and exercise are the only way to go. It’s all about choices. Luck and fate have got nothing to do with it. You choose to eat healthy. You choose to sweat and work out.”

Congratulations to all the challengers and thank you to everyone who supported the Program.